The Tale of the Missing Queen
by In The Shadow 37
Summary: Vampires, Dhampir's, and Humans are suddenly dying. Evidence points to vampires, specifically Storogi. Queen Vasilisa decides to step in and calls a town meeting when the Royal Families are in an uproar, but then all hell breaks loose.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Tale of The Missing Queen?

Author: Magan

Description: Vampires, Dhampir's, and Humans are suddenly dying. Evidence points to vampires. Queen Vasilisa decides to step in and calls a town meeting when the Royal Families are in an uproar, but then all hell breaks loose.

Disclaimer1: I don't own these characters.

Disclaimer2: I'm borrowing an idea from The Vampire Diaries, but it is central to the story, so I won't give it away. Only fans of VD will know what story it is.

Disclaimer3: There's mention of of a previous story that I wrote, A New Beginning.

Chapter 1

It had been awhile since my friends and I had to go on the run, but lately with all the mass killings, it was looking more and more like we were going to have to leave soon. My instincts had been telling me something was coming soon. Call it a premonition, intuition, whatever, I don't know. All I knew it was going to be bad.

Everyone told me I was being paranoid, but I didn't care. It's better to be safe than sorry. Right? So I upped the number of Guardians here at court to protect our queen and my best friend Lissa. She called a special meeting for all the royal families here at court to reassure everyone that everything in our power was being done to protect us.

We gathered in the Queen Tatiana dining room. It was one of the smaller dining rooms the court had. Everything was rebuilt after the big attack a few years ago. It was new and different and we had upped our protection.

On the far wall there were eight perfectly aligned windows that looked out upon a large lake. It was very picturesque like a Norman Rockwell painting. The walls were painted in a soft glowing gold color. A large painting of former Queen Tatiana, hung next to the front entrance. On the other side of that, was a large mural of court as it had been before it was destroyed in the battle in the last battle.

At the back of the room, a bar had been set up. Many of the royals were already there waiting for drinks to be served.

For this particular get together, Lissa wanted a large round table in the middle of the room. It was a simple table made of oak. Rumor has it; the table once belonged to a Moroi who had once been one of The Knights of The Round Table. Yeah, I'm not so sure I believe that.

Ahead of me and Dimitri, Lissa and Christian had walked in confidently. Lissa was wearing a pink dress suit, her hair in a loose bun with wispy hair framing her face. Christian was in a black suit looking stylish.

All at once, everyone stopped to greet their queen and Lord Ozera as she walked by her. Lissa and Christian made their way to their seats at the large oak table.

_I am so nervous._Lissa thought.

_You will do fine!_

_I hope so!_

On the outside, Lissa was so calm and posed; she was a natural at this, but the inside, she was a bundle of nerves.

Turning towards me, Lissa gave me a quick smile as a way for saying thank you for that.

As I took my place behind Lissa, the meeting was slowly starting to come to order. I glanced over at Dimitri and he was standing behind Christian as were all the other guardians, who had were assign their Moroi's.

"All right..." Lissa finally spoke. "This meeting will come to order…We are well aware of the mass murders taking place outside Court and the schools. We're all on edge understandably. It has put us on high alert. We're doing everything that we can to stop this. It's going to take some time and we're going to need a little help from Moroi's." She paused to look at the royals before beginning again. "I realize that some of you maybe against using your magic to fight, but this…This is exactly what we need to protect ourselves. We can't expect our Guardian's to take up the slack. We lose too many of them when Strogoi attack us on the outside. We have to be on guard 100% or this will not work!" She glanced over at Christian and he gave her a wink as a way of giving her confidence to go on.

As guardian's we have to keep an eye on everything. No stone unturned as they say. If we falter just a little, then we lose our Moroi.

This meeting was drawing on and on.

_Tell me about it, but it will be over soon! Then we can get the hell out of here and go shopping. Have a girls' day._

That sounded so tempting. When was the last time we had a girls' night out?

_A couple of weeks ago!_

_That long? Wow! And no, we're not leaving court. We will do everything here._

We never really had to leave court. There were many different things to do. We could go shopping, having dinners, go to the theaters, you name it; we had it here. Having all those outlets here made the Moroi feel a little less scared and more likely to go on their lives without necessarily leaving the compound. Any meetings we had were usually conducted via Skype or by fan.

Tuning into the meeting once again, I heard a few Moroi agree with Lissa's stance, while others had fought her tooth and nail over it. It was like that since she had become Queen. It brought me back to the time Christians' aunt was raising the very same issues of protection; many of the Moroi had objected then too. Some Moroi are to stuck on the old ways. I think it was just because they were scared.

_We're all scared, but we can't sit back and do nothing!_Lissa thought.

A small pop went off to the western side of the building that caught my attention.

_It's nothing. A car backfiring._Lissa dismissed my concerns.

It could be; we weren't far from the highway. Then I heard it again, this time, it was a lot closer.

_That's not nothing!_

_I heard the load pop again when I glanced at Dimitri. He was in guardian mode, I could tell. He was looking everywhere for whatever little attacks that might happen. I saw him lean in and whisper something to Christian. No doubt Dimitri was alerting him of what was going on. _

"What was that?" One of the Moroi had asked his voice shaky. He glanced over at Lissa, but she was just starring off into space.

"I don't know…" Another Moroi had asked. He glanced up at his guardian. "What is going on?"

"We should go!" The Guardian urged the Moroi to leave.

I heard over my ear piece that Strogoi were at Court.

"Oh my god!" A female had overheard it and screamed.

All hell was breaking loose!

_Lissa, I think we should go!_

A moment later, another guardian came over our ear pieces to say that we had casualties.

Dammit!

Lissa did not reply to my plea. So I leaned forward and said, "Come on, we have to go!"

Still nothing there was no reply. It was as if she were under a spell. I quickly did a sweep around the room to see if anyone was using compulsion on her. It didn't appear to be anyone that I could see using their powers on her.

_Lis!_The door to our connection was snapped closed, forcing me out completely.

"Lissa!" I was frantic now that I couldn't get back to her mentally. "Dammit! We have to go."

Suddenly I saw a guardian flying through the air. Holly shit!

All at once, everyone started to scramble around; it was becoming chaotic to stay. The guardians were rushing to get their Royals out of the room and into the safe room, but some were frozen in fear. I needed to deal with Lissa. I couldn't reach her telepathically, nor could I answer her verbally. She wouldn't even move at all.

"What's wrong?" Christian finally looked over at us, worried.

"I don't know!" I felt helpless, but I wasn't getting up.

When I glanced up, I Strogoi had rushed in.

"Christian…Dimitri!" I looked for both of them and when I spotted them I said, "Get out of here!"

"Not going anywhere without her!" Christian turned to Lissa, "Baby, get up!" He coaxed, trying to pull Lissa up to stand. "Come with me!" But she didn't budge.

Another explosion rocked the whole room. It was close. What the hell was with these Strogoi? They sure liked their explosions.

I felt bad for Christian. He did not want to leave Lissa behind. I didn't want to leave her either.

"Don't worry." Dimitri placed his hand on Christian's shoulder. "Rose will get her out of here."

There was another explosion, knocking us around. Damn, it was getting even closer.

"We've got to go." Dimitri gave me a quick glance. "Be careful!"

I nodded, then whispered, "Go!"

Dimitri replied with a nod of his own and then placed his hand on Christian's shoulder once again. "Come on!"

"Lissa..." Christian said one last time before Dimitri pulled him out the back door.

Still, there was no movement from her.

"Lissa!" I tried again to no avail.

I was so scared and I knew there was nothing that I could to help her, but I wouldn't give up.

"I have to stay and wait for him." She finally spoke.

Who did she mean? Christian? "Lissa, Christian is in the safe room. He's waiting. We have to go. Let's go. Let's not make him wait."

"He's here!"

I had a feeling she didn't mean Christian.

"Who is here?" I followed her gaze, everyone was trying to exit, but they didn't have a chance with Strogoi stopping them.

"Lissa, come on." I yanked her up and pulled her towards the back door.

"I have to go to him!" Lissa wrenched herself away.

"Lissa!" I reached for her again and she slipped through my fingers.

She started heading foray.

"Where are you going?"

"He's coming for me. I have to go!"

Who the hell was coming for her? I wondered and I looked up and saw a man coming towards us, slow and determined, and had his eyes only one Lissa.

The man was taller than Dimitri and built like him. He had long dark, silky hair hanging around his face and was very good looking, but at the same time scary as hell. Was he Moroi? No! Pale skin told me he was Strogoi, but there was something royal about him. I didn't know who he was and I knew most of the Royal's by name. I had to know them all; it was a requirement for being the Queen's Guardian.

The Strogoi looked so confident dressed in his black Armani suit.

"Lissa! We have to go."

Taking a quick glance at the war zone, I saw how horrible it had gotten in just a moments time. The Strogoi had taken over once again. Blood was shed. It was everywhere. Bodies of guardians and Moroi strewed all over. The Royal and the Guardians had been decimated yet again. A few had of the Royals had the good sense to head for the hills.

If I had to guess, the Strogoi knew there were going to be a meeting here today with all the Royals. That meant that we had a leak somewhere and this was a planned attack, well thought out plan.

My instincts were screaming at me RUN! RUN NOW! Dimitri's lessons coming back to me. Sometimes you just got to run like hell!

There was no time. I just grabbed Lissa and tossed her over my shoulder and ran like hell!

"She's mine! You can't have her!" The Strogoi bellowed at me.

I didn't have the guts or the wits to give him a reply. My only concern was getting the hell out of here and protecting Lissa. But I didn't get very far, I felt myself flying through the air. I tried my best to hold on to Lissa, but we hit the wall hard. My head smacked against it and I was seeing stars. I had a head injury. I knew that from experience. I had had many over the years.

Warm liquid slid down my face and into my eyes. It was my blood. It was bad. I could tell when I tried to get up, but the room seemed to move all around me. I had to close my eyes to stop it from moving.

"Lissa!" I yelled whipping the blood out of my face.

I blinked a few times to clear my vision when Lissa finally looked at me. Really looked at me. Whatever trance she had been in, she'd finally come out of.

"Rose!" She crawled over to me.

I'd noticed that her hair was out of place, but she still managed to look pretty. Me, I knew I must have looked like hell.

"Oh god, your head." The look on her face told me that I must have had a deeper than I thought.

Lissa placed her hand on my head and I felt the warmth radiate from her. It felt good. Felt like the wound was healing, but it suddenly changed. It felt cold and hard.

_What are you doing?_

"Lissa..."

I was weaker, unable to move. Frozen. She was draining me.

"STOP!" I managed to say, though it came out more like a whimper.

Lissa stopped, blinked a few times, and looked at me as if she were appalled at what she had done.

"Oh my god, what have I done to you?"

Fighting through whatever she was going through, Lissa tried to heal me once again. Her warmth went right through me, but it wasn't enough. I saw blackness and passed out. I hope that Dimitri or whoever would fine me. Find Lissa and take her away from here.

"Rose, get up!" I thought I heard Lissa say.

My eyes were forced open, though I barely had the strength to move. Lissa must be compelling me to do so. I saw the Moroi, no Strogoi coming for us. I thought he was handsome before, but up close, I was wrong. He was pure evil.

"Please don't hurt us!" I heard Lissa say. "NO! NO! Don't! Leave me alone! ROSE! HELP ME! Christian! Help! Dimitri!" She screamed, then I was out again, too weak to do anything.

Was she dead?

I knew I had to get up; I had to go, but how? I couldn't move.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: There is a section further down in this chapter that mentions a certain part that was mentioned in Vampire Diaries last season. I only borrowed the idea to further the back story of one of the characters. It just seemed to fit kind of nicely. Again, I am only borrowing, not stealing.

Chapter 2 –

There was a dull ache running through me. Ugh! I was so sick of getting bashed in the head. It was like Strogoi know what it would take to incapacitate me. I sighed internally as my eyes fluttered open. The lights were so damn bright. I had to shield them with my hand till I had adjusted to the light.

Where was I? What had I been doing today? Was I protecting Lissa…?

The pieces were slowly coming back to me. There was a meeting today. I was protecting Lissa. The royal families were here about the mass killings.

Was there something else that I was missing? I just couldn't quite grasp it? Was Dimitri ok? What about Lissa? Christian? What was it? Dammit!

A flicker of a memory flashed before me. Lissa was missing. Oh god! It was my responsibility to protect her. She'd been taken by a tall, dark, and scary looking Strogoi.

Lissa was gone! Court was hit again! It started to all fall back into place.

I had to get up. I had to get up to go find Lissa. I need to make sure everything is in order. It was my responsibility and I failed. But I just couldn't make myself get up.

Get up Hathaway! Get up now!

Quickly, I sat up only to regret it when the pain hit my head like a mother…I grabbed my head to easy the pain, but it did nothing to alleviate it.

"SHIT!" The pounding would not let up. It needed to stop soon.

"Take it easy, Rose." Dimitri placed his hand on mine. "Don't get up to fast. You hit your head pretty hard. Adrian did what he could to heal your injuries, but he had to take a break; they were pretty extensive." Dimitri paused for a moment; it made realize I was hurt pretty badly and he was hiding it from me. "He can only do so much. Lissa was the healer." There was a sigh, almost as though things had been final, but I did not believe that. In my heart, I knew Lissa was alive. I would know if something happened to her.

"She's not dead!" I had to tell him.

Saying it out loud made it more real for me. She wasn't dead. I would know it! I had to do know it. We're shadow-kissed.

"Besides which, I don't care what happens to me…" I swung my legs to the floor, pushing myself up. The pain shot through my whole body, but I didn't care. I had to get Lissa back.

Although if I had to admit how I was feeling…I could use a drink to drown out the pain, but an aspirin would do just fine.

"Let's get going. We got a Queen to get back." I felt myself sway a little, but I grounded myself and pushed on.

"Rose!" Dimitri reached out to steady me. "Stay. You need to rest. The other guardians are on it."

No! I couldn't leave it to the other guardians. I was sure that they would do a good job, but this was on me. If I looked up into his eyes, I knew he would stop me and make me rest. I was in no mood to rest and heal up. There was far too much at stake right now.

Dimitri knew me well. "At least sit down and we can strategize."

I was in no mood for that either.

"That would take to long and you know it. I've got to do something." I paused a moment, then continued on. "Lissa is out there. I have to do something."

"And we will. Let's just…"

I didn't want to hear any more of it. I hurried out of the room and turned corner before running into something hard. I glanced up to see that it was Adrian.

"Adrian?" I said, then noticed there was an elderly man with him.

Was the elderly man a relative perhaps? They shared some of the some facial features and the same green eyes. The only difference was the old man had white hair, but it definitely could be Adrian in forty years or more.

"I'm sorry. Adrian. I've got to go." I gave a quick smile to Adrian and his relative and tried moving past them, but Adrian caught my arm.

"This is my great Uncle Vasily," Adrian stated as if he read my mind.

"Hi Vasily. It's nice to meet you."

Vasily nodded in response.

I needed to go.

"Look Adrian, I've need..."

The look in Adrian's eyes told me that it was serious. "You're gonna want to hear this!"

It was Adrian, so I decided to give him a few minutes, but nothing more. I had to find Lissa. The more time I wasted, the more time it meant that…No, I will not go there. Lissa is not dead.

Stealthily, Dimitri had come up behind me, placing his hand on my arm, and letting me know he was with me in whatever I had decided to do. It was comfort to know that he trusted me so much. His unique sent enveloped me, reassured me as well. I wanted to lean into him, but I did not allow myself to do that.

"Shoot! I motioned with my hand for Adrian to get on with his story.

"Uncle Vasily…" Adrian turned to Vasily to give him a slight nod.

"I was a part of a secret group…" Vasily looked around, then glanced back at me, before whispering his next statement, "A secret group that experimented on a Strogoi."

"What does this have to do with our missing queen?" I couldn't wrap my mind out of that. How could Moroi be so cruel, even to Strogoi? Nothing was making sense.

"Everything…Come on!" Vasily beckoned us to follow him down the hallway.

"Come on!" Adrian followed his uncle so did Dimitri and me.

We weaved our way through court, going around the damage, and then a few minutes later, we were heading up the stairs, then down the stairs, down another large hallway. I was beginning think this was a waist time, not to mention it was making my head hurt.

When Vasily finally stopped, it was in front of a wall. Okay, what was this?

The old man knocked three times; suddenly the wall made some ungodly noise, and then pushed in. He disappeared through it. A moment later, Adrian followed his uncle, and we followed Adrian after him.

"Be careful!" As Vasily glanced over his shoulder, he was making his way down the stairs.

Wouldn't you know it; I slipped down the steps. I would have taken a tumble if Dimitri had not caught me. I was so scared that I would fall down the stairs and take everyone with me. It was like life almost flashed before my eyes.

"Roza." Dimitri held me a few minutes. "I thought…Are you ok?"

I stood there momentarily in his arms, but I knew I couldn't stay there for very long. We had to find Lissa. They come first echoed in my head. I always wanted to tell it to shut the hell up, in fact, I did many times, but this time, I agreed. Lissa definitely came first.

"I'm ok." My voice came shakily, but I continued on my way, Dimitri close behind me. I loved that he was always concerned about me. Just like I would be about him.

We fought tooth and nail to get back to each other, but there were consequences along the way. It took a long time to get passed all those memories, both of us, to get to this place. Dimitri and me, we were connected in every way possible. No one could ever pull us apart. We loved each other. No one would ever change that.

The old Moroi stopped in front of an ancient door. There were so many cobwebs and dust all over it; it did even look like it had ever been opened.

Vasily reached into the pocket of his pristine black slacks, to fish something out; presumably a key to unlock the door. He pulled the key out and slide it into the door, and turning it. The mechanics of the door turned, grunting, till it popped opened. The room was dark, foreboding. I really didn't know if I wanted to go on in.

"Hold on!" The old man had disappeared into the room, leaving us in the hall, as we waited for his return.

Suddenly the room was lit with a glow from a candle. "Okay, come in."

As we walked into the room, I spotted a silver cage at the other end of it. What was this Vampire Diaries? Did the show have Moroi writers who knew about the secret?

The cage was for the Strogoi and the Moroi studied him from there. But who was the Strogoi?

"I've seen this already!" I said flippantly. "Last season on Vampire Diaries."

"Really!" Adrian glanced at me sardonically. "You live in a vampire world yet you watch a show about vampires?" He couldn't help but snort.

Hey? I didn't grip about what he watched. It was just entertainment. I knew the truth: anything can happen.

I could see the note of curiosity in Dimitri's eyes. "What was this room?"

Dimitri didn't have my interest for vampire shows because he lived it; we live it now too as we protect the Moroi.

I moved passed Adrian to a desk that had papers scattered all over it. Some looked as old as some of the scrolls in the Queen's office that were under glass. Those laws were written on parchment paper.

After 100 or more years, the paper becomes brittle.

I made my way to the other side of the room to a lab table. On it had been a stake, silver strands, and other tools for torture. Torture? What the hell?

Vasily began speaking once again and I turned towards him to listen. "Many years ago, we caught a Strogoi, as I have told you." He watched us momentarily to gauge our reaction and then continued on, "We studied him, what he could and couldn't do. We purposely kept him weak, only giving him small amounts each week to keep him weak."

"Wouldn't he have been able to get through the cage," I asked, though somehow I knew the answer.

"The cage is magical," replied the old man.

"But that's not possible," Dimitri said, disbelieving.

We didn't know about spirit until recently, but before that, it had been forgotten.

"Dimitri, you above all people know how anything can happen!" Vasily said pointedly, taking the seat next to the desk. He looked as if he was about the pass out.

That quieted Dimitri. He knew and lived it every day. Spirit had given him a second chance at life, but the memories of what he did to each person, to me, had stayed with him.

I glanced up at the cage and saw something in it. I moved to the cage, though I did not enter. What I had seen was a drawing of a woman had long blonde hair, green eyes, but it eerily looked just like Lissa.

Was the woman a distant relative of Lissa? I reached into the small cage and ripped it off the hook.

"Vasily," I crossed to him. "Who is this?"

The Moroi didn't even need to look at the drawing. He didn't even hesitate either. "This is Anna."

"Anna? Is she related to Lissa?" I wondered as I kept looking at the drawing.

"In a manner speaking…" Vasily said, though it was more cryptic than anything.

"What do you mean, Uncle Vasily?" Adrian wondered, a hint of confusion in his voice. "In a manner of speaking?"

I handed the drawing over to Dimitri; he looked it over, and then glanced back at me. He saw it too. He saw the same features in Lissa. He was coming to the same conclusion that I had. Lissa and Anna must be related somehow.

"Why isn't that in the books?" I asked, no I had demanded to know.

"Because it was redacted," Vasily answered me honestly.

How can history be redacted? I don't understand that, neither had Dimitri or Adrian.

"Uncle, can you be any less cryptic." Adrian was frustrated with his uncle.

Can't say as I blame him, I was getting there myself.

"Lissa is Anna reborn," Vasily finally said.

"What? Did you just say? Lissa is Anna? Adrian was skeptical.

This was definitely getting CRAZY! Then again, I keep learning that anything could happen.

Finally, the old man got up from his seat and moved around the room; his body creaking as he moved along. "As I said, history was redacted, to cover up what we had done. Vladimir, the Moroi had done a great many things for our people, just as history says, except, he and Anna kept their relationship secret, hidden from the public. They couldn't tell anyone."

"Why?" I asked.

I felt like a little kid asking why.

"Before Anna came along, Vladimir took a vow of celibacy. We take these things very serious and very rarely did Moroi of that time go back on things like that. When Vladimir met Anna, he instantly fell in love with her. Just as she had loved him.

"So what?" I put the drawing down. It was a little eerie to look at. "It's not that big of a deal. These relationships happen all the time." Of course, they're usually kept hidden.

Moroi and Dhampir's was becoming a progressive people.

"A relationship like that was taboo then, more so than it is now." Vasily looked over at Dimitri, who looked as though he had a question he wanted to answer.

"What happened to Strogoi Vladimir?" Dimitri asked, the pieces of the puzzle coming together.

"The madness had over taken him. You know what that's like, Rose!" Vasily said as if he knew I was shadow-kissed to Lissa. "He wanted to be rid of it and the only way for that to happen; well you know how that happens. As Anna laid there a sleep, he bit her. He thought that he could take her into the next life, as he said, but instead the blood lust was too much for him, and he killed her."

Anna didn't even see it coming. At least she was in no pain.

"Why did Vlad take Lissa?" I asked as I tried to slip into her mind, but it was like a brick wall. "Why does he want her?"

"Weren't you listening?" Vasily was annoyed. "Because Lissa is the reincarnation of Anna."

Even though Vasily had said it before, I didn't really believe it. I really didn't think that reincarnation was real. But I suppose it was. The other side was a stop off for anyone who has passed.

"At that time, the powers remained when the transformation took place. They were unstoppable. We were continually overtaken, Moroi and Dhampir. It wasn't until a few years after Vladimir's capture that the scientist got themselves ahead of the game when they came up with a vaccine that cured Strogoi of their elemental powers. They still had limited compulsion and strength, but that still was manageable, especially when we had both Moroi and Dhampir's working together to vanquish the enemy."

Wow! I had heard stories about Moroi and Dhampir's working together, but I don't know if I ever really believed it. Hearing this revelation had made it real.

"How did Vladimir survive in the cage?" Adrian was curious.

"The feeders," Dimitri walked into the cage, looking around.

I thought that I saw him shiver a little. No doubt, he was reliving his time as Strogoi. I think we were going to have to rely on that knowledge. I hated it. I hated that I had to remember that part of him. It wasn't right. I knew every ounce of Dimitri hated it too!

"Exactly," Vasily smiled.

I was done hearing any more of this. I had to get out of here and soon. I needed to find Lissa and fast. Her life depended on it.

Dimitri exited the cage and moved over to me, pulling me close to him. "What was the real reason that history was redacted?" He asked.

"The Queen, at that time, and Anna's family did not want any of this to come out, so they concocted the story of her suicide. They did not want any of the history up until that point, disturbed. A suicide was bad enough, but people could move on, and accept that. The queen had ulterior motives though. Factions were trying to overtake the throne. They were close too. They had evidence that she was using compulsion. She'd used it to work her way up to the throne. Then she turned around and made it illegal."

That was too much but I needed to hear it. I just wish I wouldn't have taken so long.

"How did he get out?" Adrian glanced at files on the desk and opened up to a page that logged in all the times Vladimir was tortured and when he had his feeder.

"A group of his followers broke him out last week," replied Vasily.

"Strogoi?" Wondered Dimitri.

"No! Moroi. These Moroi wanted more. They wanted what a Strogoi could get them."

"He turned some of them Strogoi once they got him out." It wasn't so much a question on my part, but a deduction.

Shit! Everything clicked. Vladimir had been the one behind all those killings.

"It was him. He killed all those people." The look on everyone else's faced said that they agreed. "Ole Vlad knew the families were getting together here at court. He knew that Lissa would be here." I shook my head. I knew it was coming. I could feel it.

Vladimir would be the strongest Strogoi I would ever face. Even Strogoi Dimitri was no match for me. We knew each other's moves. Shit! Shit! Shit! We're screwed.

"We'll get Lissa back." Dimitri pulled me even closer to him, reassuring me. "I'll take him on."

The hell you would! I wouldn't let that happen.

"You will not!" I turned in his harms. "I'm not letting you risk your life like that. It has to be me. He's even more dangerous than you were…" I couldn't bring myself to save Strogoi aloud.

I could tell that Dimitri was about to respond to me, but I felt the familiar twinge of my bond with Lissa. "Lissa, I can feel her. She's reaching out to me somehow, but I was blocked out before."

"Is she ok?" Dimitri asked worriedly. His hand fell at his side.

_LISSA! Can you hear me?_

"I don't know!" I said frantic. "She's not answering me."

_Lissa! Lissa! Please! Talk to me! Say something anything!_I felt like crying.

Dimitri had reached for my hands, squeezing them, reassuring me, like he always had done. Lissa was screamed; her scream reverberated in my head. She was unbelievably scared, tormented, lost, confused, and a little disoriented.

_Lissa, calm down, please, tell me what's going on?_

_I had protected calmness to her and I felt as though she was feeling that and realized that I was talking to her._

_Rose, help me! He's coming!_

_Where are you? I need to know where you are. Come on Lissa, help me here. Tell me anything. You know I'll be there in a heartbeat._

_ROSE! AHHHHHHHHH!_

I saw him – Vladimir- kneeling down in front of her. It was like I was looking at him with my own eyes. His smile was even more frightening than anything I've ever seen. So cold, so calculating, so evil. I'd once thought that about Dimitri's smile, but his was different in comparison than Vladimir's smile. It sent shivers up and down my spine.

_You can't have her, she's mine. If you try to find her, I will kill you, your lover, her lover, and all your friends!_

_You try to hurt anyone of them and I hunt you down and I will kill you. Don't underestimate me, you sick son of a bitch! I will be coming for you! I guarantee it!_

The only reply was that smile of his.

_Till we meet Miss Rosemarie._

The connection was completely gone, but what remained was an intense pain that kept growing until I screamed. My hands flew to my head.

"Dimitri, oh god, the pain. Oh god, make it stop!" I cried out.

My legs buckled underneath me. The only thing I felt for sure was that Dimitri had picked up me up in his arms. Everything then went black.

TBC


End file.
